Sarah’s Pantry helps feed local people, from the Pines to Pocomoke

(July 8, 2020) Since the 1980s, Sarah’s Pantry has helped provide food for families in need, both in Ocean Pines and throughout Worcester County.

The volunteer-driven outreach is supported by the Shepherd's Nook Flea Market, and both are housed at the Community Church at Ocean Pines campus, on 11227 Racetrack Road. 

Marian Bickerstaff, who oversees Sarah’s Pantry, said the operation started off quite small, literally just a shack near the church. It was later given a small part of Shepherd's Nook and, in 2014, an addition was built to give Sarah’s Pantry a permanent home. 

Shepherd's Nook, she said, is “a huge blessing” that helps pay for utilities and “keeps a roof over our heads.”

“Because of them, we were able to get a really nice-sized pantry and, on average, we were serving about 300 people before the pandemic,” Bickerstaff said. 

Inside the pantry are several large shelves for dry goods, along with a refrigerator and large freezer for produce, poultry and other items. 

Bickerstaff said the pantry is a member of the Maryland Food Bank, which grants access to lower-priced food stuffs. The Ocean Pines Food Lion also donates supplies, three times each week. 

During a June 12 interview with Bickerstaff, many local people stopped by to donate bags of groceries and other items.

“As you just witnessed, that’s what happens on a daily basis. People are just so generous,” she said. “I can’t even say the words — it’s daily.”

Bickerstaff said canned food donations are the most helpful — because of the longer shelf life —  but the freezer is also regularly stocked with food. 

“Mountaire [Farms] gives us chicken. They come in with big, 40-pound boxes and men from our church bag them up [in] chicken quarters. We freeze them and they’ll go out to the families that we serve,” she said. “It’s everybody working together — we could never do this without the community support.”

Like everything else, things changed at the pantry because of COVID-19. Today, all the volunteers wear face coverings — both masks and shields — as well as gloves throughout the day.

Those donating food are asked to call ahead, and safety measures are used to ensure nothing inside the pantry is touched by outside hands. Staff was also reduced, down to two volunteers each day. 

Bickerstaff said most of the clients served by Sarah’s Pantry come through county agencies, including the Worcester County Health Department, Worcester County Department of Social Services, and Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services. 

“What I saw in the pandemic was, some of the elderly that couldn’t get out, their social workers would come in for them and were taking them food,” Bickerstaff said. “We’ve also been sending loads of food to Pocomoke, because Pocomoke is so desperate for food. They’re really in need.”

Bickerstaff said in Pocomoke supplies go to the local middle school, for distribution fives days a week to food insecure children and needy families. 

Donations also go to people in Ocean Pines, Berlin, Snow Hill and some of the unincorporated places in Worcester. 

“In some ways, we’re passing through what we get to those that need it even more than we do [locally],” Bickerstaff said. “We were even seeing people from Stockton and Girdletree, and places like that in the lower part of the county. We have to only serve Maryland because of being a Food Bank partner, but we definitely help throughout the county.”

For those looking to help, Bickerstaff said what is most needed are monetary donations. 

“That way, we can purchase what we need most,” she said. “I think people also need to understand that we can’t pass on food that is out of date. Sometimes people think that when you’re poor it doesn’t matter — but it does matter. So, we’re very careful with that.”

For information or to donate, call 410-641-8392 or email [email protected]. 

Sarah’s Pantry is open Wednesday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Calling ahead is recommended. 

“We’re here to help,” Bickerstaff said. “Even if someone doesn’t have a referral, we’ll still help them. If somebody comes to the door hungry, we have what we call an emergency pack that we would give them, and then we also give them a referral list for different agencies in the county where they can go and get additional help.

“It’s a lot of partnerships going on in different ways, to make sure people who need it get all the help that they need,” she added.